


The Flower That Kills As It Grows

by amazingbrado



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angst, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Tags May Change, Unrequited Love, Warnings May Change, klangst, seriously this is probably gonna be really sad, side Shatt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 13:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10219538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazingbrado/pseuds/amazingbrado
Summary: Hanaki Disease: a fatal disease caused by unrequited love where a flower blooms in your chest and forces your body to cough up petals and blood until you die.





	

* * *

_Hanahaki Disease_

* * *

 

The sun was bright that day at Leahi Beach Park. Lance pointed his small finger out at the waves that were separated away from him by a small brick wall. He was young, 12 maybe, and stood beside Hunk who was staring in awe at the sunlight that reflected on the big blue. He was bigger than Lance in size, thick soft skin that trailed around his whole body, but was shorter than him. He had his hair pushed back into a ponytail with an orange headband wrapped around his temple. Lance smiled at him, teeth as white as the clouds in the sky. He heard a rustle Hunk yelped next to him, falling on his butt.

"Look at the pig! Aw, is he going to cry?", the boy who has pushed him had messy black hair and thick eyebrows, furrowed in a menacing smirk. Lance knew who it was by his signature purple polo shirt. It clung to his skin with sweat, the itchy material scratching his chest. The shirt was ugly and smelled like he hadn't washed it in months which, to be honest, it probably hadn't. He was 2 years older than Lance, an 8th grader who visited the 6th-grade classrooms during Lunch mostly to terrorize the meak ones. Hunk was one of his favorite victims.

"Oh look it's olive oil.", the boy gestured to Lance's tall stature and chuckled at the boys behind him. He was at the awkward growth spurt part of his days where he was too tall and too skin with no balance.

"Look, Hunk. It's Sendak."

The boy whipped his head around and glared. "It's _Zack_."

"In the story, Mr.Alfor read us, you seemed the most like the bad guy Sendak."

"You're as ugly as the main villain Zarkon, McClain"

"No way! I'm the blue paladin! A total hero!", Lance beamed confidently.

"You mean the most useless one. He's like a seventh wheel. Get out of my sight, loser.", Zack swirled and pushed him with his thick hands and Lance fell onto the sand beside his best friend lessened the pain of his fall. Lance glared up at the boys standing over them. His blue eyes were filled with anger and frustration, his vision red in his mind. They turned their backs to the younger boys and cackled, walking down the brick path again. Lance grabbed a rock beside him and chucked it at Zack's head, satisfied with the small sound it made against his hard skull.

"Ow!", Zack whirled on him as Lance helped Hunk back up

"I'm not the seventh wheel. I'm the sharpshooter.", he grinned and Zack scowled at him.

"That's it, _sharpshooter._ You're DEAD!"

Zack scrambled towards him and Lance had the urge to run the other way but knew he had to face the boy head on. A rock came flying from Lance's left and hit Zack on the head again, right above the ear.

"Who threw that!?", Zack screamed and whipped his head the other way, covering his ear.

"Pick on someone your own size!"

Lance didn't recognize the voice, daring to catch a look at the new kid who might be saving him and Hunk.

The boy had pale skin and coal black hair that was shaggy around his whole head, his forehead covered in hair that curled upwards at the end. He had gray eyes that somehow looked almost purple in the sunlight. He wore a red graphic tee with a lion on it and shorts. He was shorter than Lance, although lots of kids his age were due to his sudden growth spurts, but had an angry look on his face that didn't make him doubt that this kid wouldn't beat Zack up easily in a fight.

"How about you then?"

A hand grasped onto the back of the ugly polo shirt he was wearing and tugged him upwards a few feet, a taller guy appearing beside him.

"You must be blind because clearly, my little brother here isn't your size. I'm bigger than you but I don't mind picking a fight with you since you clearly don't seem to have a height bias.", the teenager had black hair like the younger boys but was about 5"10 with a good amount of muscle showing on his arms through his gray tank. He smiled sweetly at Zack but the irritation and threat were clear in the expression.

Zack seemed scared himself and wiggled out of his grip before walking to his friends. "Let's go, these guys are a bunch of losers.". He talked like he wasn't afraid of the teen but looking at the way he ran down the path to get away said otherwise. The younger one will the nebula eyes held out his hand to Lance, standing out in front of him.

"You okay?"

Lance looked up at it hesitantly and nodded slowly before taking it in his palm and letting the shorter male pull him up. He turned and help Hunk up, his best friend shaking slightly.

"We are okay, thanks to you!", Hunk replied for him and dusted his shorts off. "Who are you guys?"

The taller teen looked down at them and smiled, putting two hands on his hips. "I'm Shiro and this is Keith.", he clapped a big hand down on the younger boy's shoulder who folded his arms and looked at the boys with a look that Lance couldn't solve.  

"I'm Lance and this guy is Hunk.", he patted his best friends belly with the back of his hand.

"How old are you, Shiro?", Hunk had to look up at him when he spoke

"Oh, I'm 15. I'm just a freshman."

"Is he a freshman?", Lance pointed to Keith who was almost completely silent beside his brother.

Shiro laughed and shook his head. "Absolutely not. You three look the same age as my brother, how old are you?"

"Hunk and I are 12 but we just turned 12. We are 6th graders."

Keith made a grumpy huff and turned to them, "I'm 11."

Shiro laughed and pushed Keith closer to them. "His birthday is over the summer."

 

"Well thank for saving us, I guess.", Lance shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You guess?", Keith raised and eyebrow, tightening his folded arms. 

"I mean, we could have handled it. I'm super strong."

"I bet I'm stronger.", Keith unfolded his arms and clenched his fists at his side.

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Race you to that tree!", Lance pointed but didn't move his glare from Keith

"You're on!"

Lance took off before Keith, running. Lance made it first, partially because of his head start. He cheered to himself as the smaller boy scowled at him.

"Hey new kid, you want to go Hunk's? We are making peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies."

Keith's angry expression faded and almost smiled at Lance. "They _are_ my favorite so...sure."

They have been friends ever since.

* * *

  _The flower that blooms in your chest and makes you cough up petals with blood._

* * *

 

Unfortunately, Keith was homeschooled until they hit high school but they were still close as kids. They had all kinds of competitions and by the end of the summer of their 8th-grade year, their scoreboard was filled up with tally marks.

_Lance: 57_

_Keith: 60_

They only went to school with Shiro once when they were Freshmen but he graduated the next year and joined the military after high school much to his family's distaste. They missed him a lot but made new friends, meeting Katie in their Sophmore year. She was supposed to be a 7th grader at age 13 but skipped to her Freshman year. She was Matt's sister, who was best friends with Shiro. They called her Pidge all through high school because her hair looked like the lady from Lady and The Tramp despite her cutting it her Sophmore year.  

Hunk and Pidge got closer due to their class schedules but so did Lance and Keith. Their rivalry never changed, in fact, they were always fighting. Well, they just bickered. At the end of the day, they would always have each other's backs. They both started dating their Junior year despite the rumors they were together. No thank to Keith, Lance ended up dating a dropout named Nyma who was absolutely flawless. Keith came out to Lance when he tried to play wingman for him and set him up with few girls. He ended up setting him up with Rolo.

3 weeks, Lance's van stolen, and Keith's wallet empty later was when both boys decided to never date someone without knowing them for a little longer. 

Soon they were graduating which was the hardest thing Lance could have ever done. Hunk had been accepted into Yale and Lance had cried when he left, giving him the biggest hug when he left for the airport. (Keith cried too but he could never admit it.)

It was one night after Hunk left that Lance had started to fall asleep beside Keith on his trampoline that he heard his speak.

"What are you going to do, Lance?"

He had turned to look at his friend who had his violet eyes fixed on the stars. Lance didn't have to ask him what he meant.

"I don't know. My parents want me to work at our shop until I figure it out."

Lance didn't even have to look at him to know that his lips were pursed in an unsatisfied frown. 

"I know want to do more than that, Blue." Lance smiled at the nickname and felt Keith poke his cheek. He turned to look at him and puffed out his cheeks. "Stop smiling, this is serious."

Lance stuck out his tongue out and touched the tip of Keith's nose with it. Keith narrowed his eyes and grabbed his tongue, earning a yelp from the taller male. 

"Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay. Keith, you know what I want. I just don't have the money and personally, don't want to be in debt until I'm 60."

Lance hadn't lied. Keith knew he wanted to a pilot. He had wanted to be one since he was 7. Keith huffed, blowing his bangs from the front of his face. His hair wasn't shaggy these days, sporting an undercut with his thick black hair rustled at the top. Lance had let his brown locks grow out a little, his hair had even grown to his shoulder much to his mom's distaste but it was almost always up in a bun except for these late nights where he let it fall. 

"Home is here anyway.", Lance continued after a moment of silence. "I have my family and Pidge and you."

Keith tensed up and he bit his lip, looking away from the blue eyed boy. He sat up and hugged his knees, his red hoodie hiding a little bit of his face.

"Keith, what are you-"

"I got accepted into Uni!", Keith yelled it as if it had been trying to burst from his lungs. Lance froze his eyes widening.

"What?"

Keith let out a shaky breath. "I'm going to the University of Chicago. They have a great astrophysics program and I've always wanted this. I worked so hard but I-"

He stopped and look at his best friend who hadn't noticed the tears draining down his cheeks. 

"You...I'm so happy for you. You've always wanted this and...", the tears were overflowing and his breath starting to hiccup. "Sorry, I...I don't know why I'm crying. I am happy for you, I am."

He felt arms wrap around his shoulders and immediately buried his face in the crook of his neck, his hands tightening on Keith's jacket. He let the tears fall, sobbing into the soft material. He clenched on as hard as he could, hoping maybe if he held on hard enough that Keith would stay. He pulled away and after what felt like hours and looked at Keith smile sadly. He wiped a tear from his eyes and stood up. He held out a pale hand, his fingers shaking slightly. 

"You okay?"

Lance took his hand, only hesitating at his question.

"I guess.", he smiled.

He hugged him when he left and promised not to cry again, at least not in front Keith. He failed. 

They tried to stay in touch while Lance went to community college to get his basics and Keith was in Chicago but it was hard. Hunk came back for the holidays but Keith didn't. Soon Pidge had graduated and was off to college as well, doing an internship for Nasa as well. Hunk came home after 4 years with a mechanical engineering Ph.D. and Lance couldn't have been more proud. Pidge came home the year after, wanting to be with her family. He was happy with his friends surrounding him but...

He hadn't seen Keith in years. 

* * *

  _It was tale everybody knew about. It was extremely rare but everyone had told Lance the stories of it since he was young._

* * *

 

Lance rounded the corner, a cake in his hands and phone tucked in the crook of his neck.

"Mama, no- Yes Collin's cake is done. I'll make sure it has the correct writing- Mama, come on I've ben doing this for 4 years, I won't let you down.", Lance put the cake down and smiled at it. "Yes, mama. The pastries for the 2 o'clock order are baking. I got to go, okay. I love yo-  _te amo_ , bye."

A ring sounded from the front of the shop and Lance put the phone down, making his way out of the back kitchen.

"Welcome to McClain's Chocolate Shop, how may I help you?", Lance hadn't look up yet, tightening the back strap of his apron.

"I was hoping there were some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies baking?", the voice said in a half-whisper, as if nervous. Lance's hand slipped from his apron and he turned his head up. His eyes made contact with the man's, familiar purple meeting florescent blue. "They are my favorite."

It was him.

5 years had been good to Keith. He had more muscle on his arms and his skin wasn't as sickeningly pale. His hair had grown to his shoulders, well styled in the front and long in the back. He wore a black tee with "NO." written in bold white letters, a red flannel wrapped around his dark jeans, and motorcycle gloves covering his palms. He looked at Lance with those smoke filled eyes that made people wonder how they managed to look like lilacs in certain angles. 

Goregous Lilacs.

"We don't sell to kids with mullets.", Lance found his voice and pushed the words out. Keith rolled his eyes and put a hand on hip. "But...we do give family discounts."

Keith brightened, his face glowing with adoration. Lance couldn't take the distance anymore and jumped over the counter, tackling Keith in a hug. His hands flung to Lance's shoulders as they fell on the ground, holding onto each other dearly. 

"Where have you been?"

"It's been so long."

"I haven't seen you since you left..."

"I know, I know."

"I had no way of knowing you were okay besides your phone...

"I'm so sorry."

"I just-"

"I missed you so much."

Lance sat up and let go of Keith, sitting across from him on his knees. "I missed you too. Why didn't you call?"

Keith looked at the ground twiddling his thumbs and Lance couldn't help but be amused at the sight of a 23-year-old man being afraid of Lance like a 3rd grader. "You heard about Shiro, right?"

Lance's heart clenched as he remembered hearing about how Shiro had lost his arm in the military, having to return home later. "Of course."

"I...I was scared to come back home. If I did, I wouldn't ever want to leave again. I skyped as much as I could but it hurt just thinking of it and I know I'm a huge jerk who didn't see his brother. I mean, he came to visit me but I should have come and I'm so sorry that I didn't I was in a really bad place and I didn't know what to do but to force myself to work and-", he let out a shaky breath and Lance hit his shoulder, playfully.

"Stop. It's fine. I'm pissed at you but I get it. This town wasn't the same without my red."

Keith grinned and put his hands on his hips. "Oh so NOW you admit that Blue needed Red."

Lance rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

* * *

  _It was only caused by one thing. There was nothing else that could cause it._

* * *

 

Keith was home.

Lance couldn't be happier. His favorite people were all around him and it made him feel like crying all the time. Keith was staying with Shiro until he could find an apartment. Hunk had squeezed the life out of the boy when he saw him and Pidge had almost cried but refused that she would ever do such a "wimpy" thing. Honestly, Lance was so ecstatic and he hung out with Keith every day for a week. He had been having chest pains but nothing was too bad.

"Okay, so how was it?"

"What? Astrophysics?" Keith sat on the brick wall beside Lance, gazing at the ocean.

"Chicago."

"It was... I don't know... normal?"

"Did you do anything fun?"

"Not really. I mean I made a few friends, I guess." 

"Any...special friends?", Lance winked at Keith, making a kissy face. He expected Keith to push him away, replying something like "As if!" or to just laugh but he did neither.

"Maybe."

Lance's eyes widened and he sprang up. "No. Way."

Keith just smirked, giving him a wide grin. 

"Seriously? You? You're so introverted."

"I dated Rolo in high school."

"That's because I introduced you to him."

Keith pouted slightly, turning his head back to the ocean. "I can find dates on my own."

"Yeah, yeah but what did he look like? How long?"

"His name was Kyle. We dated for a few months but I broke it off. He was very attractive but I just never really got  _comfortable_ with him, you know? It felt too plastic. I didn't want that."

"I think I get it. What do you want then?"

"Someone I can be totally open and comfortable with. Like dating your best friend, someone who just gets you."

Lance's chest ached and he rubbed it with his palm before finger gunning at Keith. "Ooh, Keith are you saying something? I don't know if you are my type.". He wiggled his eyebrows and Keith shoved him away playfully. 

"You wish, straight boy."

Lance's chest began to hurt more, pain ripping in his heart. "Fuck..ow."

"What did I hurt your feelings?", Keith stuck out his tongue teasingly.

"Yeah, right.", Lance ignored the reoccurring pain and looked at the ocean. "Keith?"

"Hm?"

"Are you...How long are you staying?"

Keith looked at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Will you just leave again?"

Keith put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lance, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to stay."

Lance felt his heart burst again within his skin. Keith stood up and stretched before turning to him and holding out a hand.

"You okay?"

* * *

_Unrequited Love._

* * *

Lance ran to his house, bursting through the door. He ran to his bedroom and shut the door. He looked in the mirror and gulped back the rising puke. His stomach ached and he felt like he might pass out. He fell to the floor and gripped the sides of the trashcan

* * *

_It was the only cause._

* * *

 

He poured his guts out, spewing into the trashcan. The puke flew out of him, spilling into the trash along with chunks of something purple. His eye's widened as he looked at what he had done. 

The trashcan was filled with thick blood and chunks of fresh petals, piling on top of each other. Lance reached a shaky hand into the mess and pulled a petal out, wiping the blood off.

Lilacs.

Just like Keith's eyes.

Lance dropped the flower and covered his mouth, his whole body shaking with fear

* * *

_It was fatal._

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm way in over my head with this one but I had this idea when my sister told me about it last night and I needed to jump on it before someone else did. 
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @spaceliterallyanything


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